“Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us” (Mindful.org, 2021).
Cognitive flexibility, the ability to flexibly switch between tasks, is a core dimension of executive functions (EFs) allowing to control actions and to adapt flexibly to changing environments (Buttleman, 2017).
Mindfulness increases the connectivity between the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC), responsible for the emotional and cognitive center of the brain; and the Posterior Circulate Cortex (PSC), the hub of the Default Mode Network which provides a sense of self and your own perception on reality (Murphy-Beiner & Soar, 2020).
Strengthening those connections through mindfulness and cognitive flexibility will help self-regulate and achieve homeostasis when the allostatic load becomes unstable, which contributes to HPA-axis and dopamine dysfunction (Murphy-Beiner & Soar, 2020).
“Ayahuasca’s afterglow: Improved mindfulness & cognitive flexibility.” Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner
(Six Tips to Build Self-Efficacy for Success, 2018.)
Mastering the Art of Self-Efficacy.
“Self-Efficacy describes belief in your own abilities...belief you can achieve your goals, belief you can resolve challenges, belief you can overcome obstacles, belief you can stay committed, belief you can be resilient, and importantly belief you can realise your vision. A robust belief in you...underpinned by your own evidence” (Six Tips to Build Self-Efficacy for Success, 2018.)
(Razzaq et al., 2018)
“Self-efficacy reflects confidence in the ability to exert control over one's own motivation, behavior, and social environment.
These cognitive self-evaluations influence all manner of human experience, including the goals for which people strive, the amount of energy expended toward goal achievement, and likelihood of attaining particular levels of behavioral performance.
Unlike traditional psychological constructs, self-efficacy beliefs are hypothesized to vary depending on the domain of functioning and circumstances surrounding the occurrence of behavior” (Self-Efficacy Teaching Tip Sheet).
Self-Efficacy Theory (Lippke, 2020) has had considerable influence on research, education, and clinical practice. In the field of behavioral psychology, for example, the construct of self-efficacy has been applied to behaviors as diverse as:
Self-management of chronic disease
Smoking cessation
Alcohol use
Eating
Pain control
Exercise
Dopamine Control
Emotional Regulation
Educating others to understand the differences among constructs from related social-cognitive theories (e.g., self-efficacy, behavioral difficulty, self-esteem, optimism, etc.).
Empowering others to develop a personalized measure of self-efficacy for any health-related behavior that avoids the confounding of self-efficacy with these other constructs.
“If behaviors are socially stigmatized, or if social norms suggest that one should engage frequently in a specific behavior or set of behaviors, discuss how social desirability response biases might inflate self-efficacy scores” (Self-Efficacy Teaching Tip Sheet, n.d.).
Discuss self-efficacy measurements and statistical (e.g., transformation of data) solutions to such problems.
Encourage practitioners to develop methods to assemble evidence for the validity of their self-efficacy measure.
Help practitioners to design personal goals that will enhance self-efficacy, and a research design to measure changes in self-efficacy and whether these changes alter risky behaviors in a positive or negative way.
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About the author:
Melanie began attending Harvard in 2020 to complete a Graduate Certificate in Human Behavior with a specialization in Neuropsychology. Boling’s research has examined extreme environments and how they can have a potential negative impact on humans operating in the extreme environment. During her time at Harvard, she has built a mental wellness tool called a psychological field kit. Implementing these tools will allow an individual to thrive in an extreme environment while mitigating negative variables such as abnormal human behavior which can play a role in team degradation.
Melanie Boling, Extreme (ICE) Environments Neuroscientist, Boling Expeditionary Research Group; and Neuropsychology Graduate Student, Harvard University.
